Public Accounts Commission

Public Accounts Commission: Pay

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission, what the total pay bill for (a) male and (b) female employees in his Department was in 2015-16; and what the per capita spend from that pay bill for each man and woman was in that year.

Sir Edward Leigh: The Public Accounts Commission does not operate a Department, nor does it have any employees. It is a statutory body with a membership of nine Members of the House of Commons. Its role is defined by the National Audit Act 1983 and the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011. Its principal duties under the Acts are to examine the National Audit Office Estimate and lay it before the House, to consider reports from the appointed auditor of the National Audit Office (NAO), to appoint non-executive members of the NAO Board, and to report from time to time.

HM Treasury

Air Passenger Duty

Glyn Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of air passenger duty on small commercial airfields.

Jane Ellison: Air Passenger Duty (APD) is a tax levied only on airline operators. Small commercial airfields and airports are not liable to pay the duty. The Government recognises the contribution of the aviation industry and, as with all parts of the tax system, continues to keep APD under careful review.

Bank Cards: Fees and Charges

Anna Turley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to encourage retailers to abolish charges for customers using card payments for transactions.

Simon Kirby: Merchants currently pay a merchant service charge to process all card transactions. Part of this covers the fees that a merchant acquirer can be charged by a card issuing bank for processing transactions known as interchange fees. The Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR), which came into force in December 2015, caps the fees that could be passed on to consumers from merchants in the form of higher prices at 0.2% and 0.3% for debit and credit cards respectively. The Government has been clear that it would like to see merchants passing on these savings to their customers so that they continue to benefit from the interchange fee caps. From January 2018, the Payment Services Directive 2 introduces a ban on surcharging which means that retailers will no longer be able to charge consumers to use payment instruments for which interchange fees are regulated, which includes the majority of consumer debit and credit cards.

Electronic Commerce: VAT

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what contribution he has made to EU negotiations to reform VAT arrangements for the EU Digital Single Market.

Jane Ellison: The UK has taken an active and constructive role in discussion of the Digital Single Market VAT proposals. The proposals include a number of changes that the UK has previously sought, which would simplify the current VAT system, especially for SMEs trading cross border, as well as a number of more fundamental changes that will need careful consideration.

Small Businesses: Loans

Andrew Stephenson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with sectoral representatives on steps to increase levels of bank lending to small businesses.

Simon Kirby: Treasury ministers and officials have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit

Dan Jarvis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the freeze on child benefit and child tax credit in the 2017 autumn budget.

Mr David Gauke: The government has considered the impact on all benefits and tax credits rates that are included in the four year uprating freeze. The government has published an impact assessment at: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf

Broadband: Rural Areas

Helen Goodman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there are plans for the receipts from the fine imposed on BT by Ofcom on 27 March 2017 will be spent on the roll-out of rural broadband.

Mr David Gauke: The government is already taking a range of steps to provide rural areas with the digital infrastructure they need. The £1.7bn superfast broadband programme, will deliver at least 24 Mbps speeds to 95% of premises by the end of 2017.We are also legislating for a new broadband Universal Service Obligation, giving people a legal right to request fast broadband services wherever they live.

Prime Minister

East Africa: Visits Abroad

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Prime Minister, which Government Ministers visited (a) Kenya and (b) Uganda in 2016; and how many times each such Minister visited those countries.

Mrs Theresa May: Details of Ministerial overseas travel is published quarterly and is available on the gov.uk website.

Department for Work and Pensions

Jobcentres

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people Jobcentre Plus has assisted in finding employment in (a) Kettering and (b) England since May 2010.

Damian Hinds: Holding answer received on 28 March 2017



The information requested is not available. However, such information that is available is in the tables and provides a) the claimant count for Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit (required to seek work) claimants; plus (b) the numbers of unemployed people in Kettering and England Table (a) The claimant count for Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit (required to seek work) claimants in England; and those required to attend Kettering Jobcentre Position at March for each year since 2010Claimant Count for Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit claimants required to attend Kettering JobcentreClaimant Count for Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit claimants in EnglandMarch 20102,2991,333,659March 20112,0921,246,554March 20122,4131,370,504March 20132,4871,295,436March 20141,670966,185March 20151,135676,490March 20161,180639,925February 2017 (latest available)1,020646,370 Table (b) The numbers of unemployed people in Kettering and England Position at March for each year since 2010Number of unemployed people in KetteringNumber of unemployed people in EnglandMarch 20103,7002,106,000March 20113,1002,072,000March 20123,5002,206,000March 20133,5002,139,000March 20143,1001,824,000March 20152,7001,505,000March 20162,0001,386,000January 2017 (latest available)2,0001,339,000

Children: Poverty

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the data in the latest Household Below Average Income survey on levels of child poverty.

Damian Hinds: The Prime Minister has made clear that this Government is committed to building a country that works for everyone – not just the privileged few. Improving outcomes for disadvantaged children and families is a priority for this government. To do this we must tackle the root causes of poverty and disadvantage and we will make some announcements shortly.

Welfare State: Consultation Papers

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to respond to the forthcoming Social Justice Green Paper through a consultation.

Damian Hinds: Tackling child poverty and disadvantage is a priority for this Government. Some announcements on our approach will be made shortly.

Maternity Pay

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the average amount of maternity pay received under (a) full-time, (b) part-time, (c) casual, (d) fixed-term and (e) zero hours employment contracts in the last 12 months.

Damian Hinds: Women wishing to claim Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) do so directly to their employer and are paid SMP as part of their pay. DWP does not deal with these cases, and holds no information on the work patterns of the women wishing to claim.

Employment and Support Allowance: Peterborough

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance claimants in Peterborough constituency were not in the work-related activity group category in each quarter since Quarter 1 of 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: The information available for the number of Employment and Support Allowance claimants by phase of claim and Parliamentary constituency is published, and can be found at:https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp. Guidance for users is available at:https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp.

Hewlett-Packard: Pensions

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with Hewlett Packard on uplifts for the pre-1997 Digital Section of its Defined Benefit pension scheme; and what progress has been made as a result of those discussions.

Richard Harrington: I have met senior representatives from the company to present the pensioners’ arguments and make clear my interest in the matter. However, the company is meeting its legal obligations. Any increases to pensions in payment are likely to mean significant additional expenditure for any scheme and its sponsoring employer. Therefore, the Government has no plans to require all schemes to pay increases on pre-1997 pensions.

Employment and Support Allowance: Peterborough

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance claimants in Peterborough constituency were waiting up to (a) three, (b) six and (c) 12 months for work capability assessments in the last year for which data is available; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.Information on Employment and Support Allowance, outcomes of Work Capability Assessments and Mandatory Reconsiderations are published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/statistics

Social Security Benefits: Greater London

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of claimants affected by the lower benefit cap in each London borough are in receipt of (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) employment and support allowance, (c) income support and (d) another benefit.

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants in each London borough were affected by the lower benefit cap on 31 January 2017.

Caroline Nokes: Estimated breakdown of households affected by the lower cap levels by benefit receipt, 2016/17, can be found in the table below;  Number of capped households 16/17Employment and Support AllowanceIncome SupportJobseeker's AllowanceOtherTotal (Housing Benefit)Barking and Dagenham50014%48%23%15%100%Barnet80028%32%25%15%100%Bexley30013%57%14%15%100%Brent1,50020%27%39%14%100%Bromley20015%56%20%8%100%Camden60036%26%30%9%100%City of London-27%47%13%13%100%Croydon70018%43%21%17%100%Ealing1,30021%36%28%15%100%Enfield1,20019%52%14%15%100%Greenwich40012%56%19%13%100%Hackney1,20030%29%30%11%100%Hammersmith and Fulham50029%34%27%10%100%Haringey80023%45%21%11%100%Harrow30014%40%19%27%100%Havering30014%60%13%13%100%Hillingdon50015%50%20%16%100%Hounslow50018%46%20%16%100%Islington60031%34%29%7%100%Kensington and Chelsea50031%27%27%15%100%Kingston upon Thames20028%35%23%13%100%Lambeth60017%51%20%12%100%Lewisham60016%53%17%14%100%Merton20020%34%28%18%100%Newham80021%39%23%17%100%Redbridge40016%39%20%25%100%Richmond upon Thames20030%34%25%11%100%Southwark50025%52%15%8%100%Sutton10022%50%16%13%100%Tower Hamlets90025%36%27%12%100%Waltham Forest60016%40%31%13%100%Wandsworth60022%34%30%15%100%Westminster80034%25%28%13%100%   These estimates focus on the benefit cap continuing to be applied under Housing Benefit and therefore all households affected will be in receipt of Housing Benefit. The benefit cap will increasingly be applied under Universal Credit as it gradually rolls out. Universal Credit will replace Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-based Employment and Support Allowance and Housing Benefit, along with Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit. Notes:Figures may not sum due to rounding.Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.Estimates assume no behavioural responses - any behavioural responses to the lower cap, such as claimants moving into employment, would cause the number of households affected to reduce and may change the proportional split.The methodology used to estimate the households affected by the cap is consistent with that described in the latest impact assessment published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap Actual data for number of capped households in each London borough at January 2017 is not yet available: The information will be published on 4th May 2017, as part of the next scheduled Benefit Cap Official Statistics release. Benefit Cap Official Statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-cap-statistics. Note: Each Local Authority has a schedule to extract and return their data to DWP over a four week rolling period, which does not necessarily correspond to a calendar month. This means that the statistics do not show the number of capped cases on a particular date but over a monthly cycle, so published statistics will show data for January 2017.

Jobcentres: Closures

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Ministers of his Department have plans to visit constituencies affected by the proposed closure of jobcentres.

Damian Hinds: The Secretary of State and his Ministers regularly visit DWP sites across the country, including Jobcentres.

Universal Credit

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect of universal credit on the number of children in households with less than 60 per cent of median income when roll-out is completed, excluding potential dynamic effects on employment and earnings.

Damian Hinds: The Prime Minister has set out clearly that she is committed to building a country that works for everyone – not just the privileged few. Tackling child poverty and disadvantage is a priority for this government. We know that work is the best route out of poverty, and Universal Credit is designed to strengthen incentives for parents to move into and progress in work. Ignoring the impact that Universal Credit has on incentivising work and raising the incomes of families is inappropriate. The impact of Universal Credit cannot be considered in isolation– it is a key component of a broader strategy to move Britain to a higher wage, lower welfare, lower tax society.

Jobcentres: Batley

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the potential savings to the public purse from the closure of Batley Jobcentre; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse incurred by moving the operations of that jobcentre to other centres.

Damian Hinds: The department has always reviewed its offices to make sure it delivers value for money. However, the anticipated costs and savings for each individual Jobcentre is commercially sensitive information. The overall anticipated savings figure was published as part of the last Spending Review announcement.

Maternity Pay

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the average amount of maternity pay received in the (a) agriculture, forestry and fishing, (b) mining and quarrying, (c) electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, (d) manufacturing (e) water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, (f) construction, (g) wholesale and retail trade, (h) repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, (i) transportation and storage, (j) accommodation and food service activities, (k) information and communication, (l) financial and insurance activities, (m) real estate activities, (n) professional scientific and technical activities, (o) administration and support service activities, (p) public administration and defence, (q) education, (r) human health and social work activities (s) arts, entertainment and recreation and (t) other service activities employment sector in the last 12 months.

Damian Hinds: Women wishing to claim Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) do so directly to their employer and are paid SMP as part of their pay. DWP does not deal with these cases, and holds no information on the sector in which the woman works.

Home Office

Immigration: EEA Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will change the text of EEA Permanent Residence refusal letters to remove the instruction to recipients to make preparations to leave the UK.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Home Office does not send letters to European Economic Area (EEA) nationals instructing them to make preparations to leave the UK. The refusal letters notify them that, on our assessment of the evidence provided, we are unable to confirm that they have acquired permanent residence.The Home Office also provides applicants with information on options available to them, for example, clear guidance on providing the necessary evidence to make a successful application in the future, and of their right of appeal.

Immigration

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who passed through the National Referral Mechanism as victims of modern slavery or of human trafficking with positive conclusive grounds status were granted discretionary leave to remain in the UK in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 1 April to 31 December 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Our records indicate that the number of individuals who received a positive conclusive grounds decision from the National Referral Mechanism who were granted discretionary leave to remain in the UK were as shown in table 1 below. The question has been interpreted as referring to people holding only discretionary leave status following an earlier positive conclusion grounds decision. The grant of limited leave may not have been in the same year as the positive conclusive grounds outcome. Year Positive CG Outcome MadeGranted DL201412920151232016132Grand Total384 These statistics have been taken from a live operational database. As such, numbers may change as information on that system is updated.Data showing latest case grant. Please note that the DL category includes all types of "Limited Leave". Data only shows those cases where the grant occurs after the positive conclusive grounds outcome. A person might have been granted another form of leave such as asylum instead of a grant of DL, the asylum grant could have occurred at any point during their immigration history. The data is part of a wider data set which looks at different type of grants individuals might have received using the following hierarchy - Asylum (at any point during their immigration history), HP, DL & ILR (after the positive conclusive grounds stage). The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the process by which people who may have been victims of modern slavery are identified, referred, assessed and supported in the United Kingdom. (“Modern slavery” is a term that covers slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking.) The initial referral goes through a two stage process: a reasonable grounds stage and then, for those with a positive reasonable grounds outcome (where it is considered that the person is a potential victim of trafficking/slavery), a conclusive grounds stage (where the person is considered to be a confirmed victim of trafficking/slavery) . We cannot determine if the grant is linked to the fact that the person was also a victim of trafficking.

Firearms: Imports

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many firearms have been imported into the UK by registered importers from other countries within the EU in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: The total numbers of transfer of firearms into the UK by registered importers from the EU for the last five years is as follows: Total number of transfers April 2012 – March 2013 2,458 April 2013 – March 2014 4,969 April 2014 – March 2015 3,528 April 2015 – March 2016 4,231 April 2016 – March 2017 3,692 (up to 21st March 2017) These figures represent the number of commercial movements. The total numbers of firearms from these transfers have not routinely been collated albeit the information is held on each record.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department provides to universities and colleges on the requirement for comprehensive sickness insurance for EU citizens from outside the UK.

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department provides for insurance providers and non-UK EU citizens who plan to be resident in the UK on what qualifies as comprehensive sickness insurance.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Guidance on which groups of EU nationals require comprehensive sickness insurance as well as the types of documents accepted to meet this condition has always been publicly available to all parties. This can currently be found from page 30 onwards of the guidance on ‘qualified persons’ available on the GOV.UK website via the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-economic-area-nationals-qualified-persons

Police: Horses

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has had discussions with police forces on the retention of horses for use in crowd control.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office regularly discusses with the National Police Chief’s Council the effectiveness of public order tactics including the use of Mounted Horse Units for crowd control purposes. Police support animals make an outstanding contribution to the detection and prevention of crime and in maintaining public safety. Decisions on the availability and deployment of horses and mounted units are an operational matter for chief constables, working with their Police and Crime Commissioner.

Hunt Saboteurs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents involving alleged offences by hunt saboteurs have been reported in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office does not hold the requested information centrally.It is not possible to identify how many crimes were committed by hunt saboteurs from the police recorded crime data held by the Home Office.

Health Services: Migrant Workers

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what professional bodies in the health sector she consulted on the income thresholds for Tier 2 visas.

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with NHS Scotland on the income thresholds for Tier 2 visas.

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of income thresholds for Tier 2 visas; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee to undertake a comprehensive review of the Tier 2 route in June 2015. In carrying out its review, the MAC issued two public calls for evidence (from 18 June to 2 July 2015 and from 2 July to 24 September 2015) and consulted extensively with over 200 organisations, including professional bodies in the health sector across all parts of the UK. The changes we are making to Tier 2 salary thresholds, which will come into effect on 6 April 2017, therefore reflect the latest evidence provided by the MAC and are measured and balanced. They will contribute to the Government’s objective of reducing net migration to sustainable levels and to incentivise employers to up-skill and train resident workers, whilst making sure they can continue to access the workers they need to More information about the organisations the MAC consulted can be found through the MAC reports at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-tier-2-analysis-of-salary-thresholds https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migration-advisory-committee-mac-review-tier-2-migration

Muslim Brotherhood Review

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for the Government's policies of the findings of the 2014 Sir John Jenkins review; and if she will take steps to ensure parliamentary scrutiny of the findings of that report.

Sarah Newton: The Government stands by the 2015 Muslim Brotherhood Review’s findings and the commitments made by the former Prime Minister in his statement to Parliament concluding the review in December 2015. The Government will keep under review the views promoted and activities undertaken by the Muslim Brotherhood’s associates in the UK and will consider action if and where legal thresholds are met.The former Prime Minister confirmed to Parliament that the full Muslim Brotherhood Review report will not be published because the material provided for it, often by foreign governments, was provided in confidence.

Asylum

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ensure that all local authorities take in a fair share of asylum seekers.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government is committed to ensuring a more equitable distribution of asylum seekers across the UK. However, one needs to consider that not all asylum seekers receive Home Office support or accommodation while their claim is considered. The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 introduced the policy of national dispersal, designed to share the impact of supported asylum seekers across the whole of the UK. Since 2015, the Home Office has been working closely with local authorities across the UK to increase the number of areas that participate in the dispersal scheme; this activity has increased the number of dispersal areas by a third.

Cryptography

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to bring forward legislation on end-to-end encryption, hashing or hashtags.

Mr Ben Wallace: This Government is clear that it is essential our law enforcement and security and intelligence services have the powers they need to keep people safe. We are also committed to taking robust action to tackle radicalisation online, counter the poisonous ideology promoted by extremists, and remove harmful terrorist related material from the internet. We have developed strong relationships with social media and internet companies in countering terrorism and extremism online. We are working closely with these companies to ensure that harmful content is swiftly removed from their platforms, and to explore options to provide appropriate access to encrypted terrorist content to law enforcement agencies.

Migrant Workers: Pregnancy

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to case 507/12, heard at the European Court of Justice, if she will take steps to ensure that EEA female citizens residing in the UK who give up work or seeking work because of the physical constraints of the late stages of pregnancy and the aftermath of childbirth retain the status of worker under EU law.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Home Office has incorporated the European Court of Justice’s ruling in the case of Jessy Saint Prix v. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions C-507/12 into operational guidance for caseworkers, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-economic-area-nationals-qualified-persons

Department of Health

Gambling: Health Services

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will produce a strategy to provide NHS support for problem gamblers who wish to receive anonymous treatment.

Nicola Blackwood: There are no plans to do so. There are a range of services available to problem gamblers, details of which can be found on the NHS Choices website at:www.nhs.uk/Livewell/addiction/Pages/gamblingaddiction.aspx

Encephalitis

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps the Government has taken to improve diagnosis of encephalitis.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the level of NHS card and support available to people who have been diagnosed with encephalitis.

Nicola Blackwood: The Department has not made a recent assessment of the diagnosis of encephalitis or the level of National Health Service support available to people who have been diagnosed with encephalitis. The new Emergency Care Data Set will be introduced from October 2017, and will improve the recording of the diagnosis of encephalitis in English accident and emergency departments, and allow a greater understanding of the current scope and scale of the problem.

Familial Hypercholesterolaemia

Sir Alan Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that diagnosis and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia is consistent across England.

Sir Alan Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to help all clinical commissioning groups to provide adequate access to genetic cascade testing services for familial hypercholesterolemia in their areas.

Nicola Blackwood: NHS England and Public Health England are working to raise the profile of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) and break down the barriers to genetic testing. Specifically, FH is emphasised in the NHS England Prevention aide memoire to support Sustainability and Transformation Planning, which is available at:www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/stp-aide-memoire-prevention.pdf NHS England’s National Clinical Director for heart disease chairs an FH steering group which comprises representatives from relevant stakeholder organisations, including Public Health England. This group, with funding from the British Heart Foundation, has established FH specialist nurses in many areas of England, aimed at increasing FH cascade testing across the country so that more affected families can be identified. The steering group aims to develop a systems approach to the detection and management of FH. One third of England is now covered by these FH nurses as well as cascade testing, and over the last three years more than 1,000 new people with FH have been identified. Software to support cascade testing and provide a database for FH is available and will be increasingly used in England as FH services are established. NHS England has also identified FH as a possible condition that it could focus on as part of the work looking into personalised medicine and how the NHS might make better use of increased genetic testing. Finally, a cholesterol test is included as part of the NHS Health Check that is mandated by the Health and Social Care Act for delivery across all local authorities in England. Revised NHS Best Practice Guidance published in February now includes strengthened guidance for detection of FH as part of the NHS Health Check. Every patient with a cholesterol test result above 7.5mmol/l (as per National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance) will be alerted to their general practitioner for consideration of FH in combination with other diagnostic criteria.

MMR Vaccine

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children have received the MMR vaccination in each year since 2012 in (a) Pendle constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) England.

Nicola Blackwood: Annual uptake data is collected at national and local authority level; therefore data is available for Lancashire and England, but not Pendle constituency. The data can be found in the Cover of vaccination evaluated rapidly (COVER) programme reports, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake

Encephalitis

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been diagnosed with encephalitis in each year since 2010.

Nicola Blackwood: Acute encephalitis is a notifiable disease but given most cases are mild, in practice the majority of cases are not reported. The numbers reported for England and Wales in 2010-15 are available to view here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/572816/NOIDS_Annual_Totals.xlsx

Ticks

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how information on the safe removal of ticks is publicised.

Nicola Blackwood: Public Health England (PHE) provides details of a range of tick awareness information on the www.gov.uk website including a leaflet detailing: what ticks are and where they can be found; how people come into contact with ticks; the main health threats; how to perform a tick check; and what to do if bitten. PHE is also working with a range of local authorities to improve tick awareness and what to do when bitten. There is also information on tick removal on the NHS Choices website:http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bites-insect/Pages/Treatment.aspx In addition, the Lyme Disease Action website includes information on tick removal:http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-ticks/tick-removal/

Pregnancy: Diets

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what advice his Department gives to pregnant women on dieting.

Nicola Blackwood: NHS Choices provides advice to pregnant women or those planning a pregnancy on eating healthily during pregnancy. Details of that advice can be found here:http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/healthy-pregnancy-diet.aspx Public Health England's Start4Life social marketing programme encourages pregnant women to eat a healthy diet. The Start4Life website provides guidance on healthy eating, including directing mothers-to-be to practical tools such as a 28-day plan for boosting fruit and vegetable intake during pregnancy. Start4Life’s Information Service for Parents also provides guidance via email on a healthy diet during pregnancy, and promotes the Healthy Start food vouchers scheme, which enables eligible mothers-to-be to get free fruit, vegetables and vitamins. Start4Life leaflets and posters are used by healthcare professionals to provide information on a healthy diet to pregnant women.

Abortion

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has had discussions with the British Medical Association on its consultation on proposals to amend the law on abortion.

Nicola Blackwood: Ministers have held no discussions with the British Medical Association about their consultation document on abortion law.

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the proposed £20 million budget impact threshold will apply to treatments still being appraised by NICE at the proposed implementation date of 1 April 2017.

Nicola Blackwood: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England intend to put in place the arrangements for managing the budget impact test for topics for which a first evidence submission is received after 1 April 2017.

Breast Cancer: Medical Treatments

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of breast cancer treatments potentially affected by the proposed £20 million budget impact test.

Nicola Blackwood: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence estimates that around 80% of technologies appraised between June 2015 and June 2016 fell below the level of the proposed budget impact test. The level of the budget impact test does not represent a maximum that the National Health Service will spend on an individual drug in any year, but represents the point at which NHS England will seek to agree a commercial agreement with the drug company.

Cancer: Diets

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has had recent discussions with clinical bodies on the potential benefit of (a) the Mediterranean diet and (b) other diets in reducing the incidence of cancer.

Nicola Blackwood: No discussions have taken place with clinical bodies on the potential benefit of certain diets and reducing the incidence of cancer.Government advice is to eat a diet consistent with the Eatwell Guide:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-eatwell-guide

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) number of new treatments that will reach or exceed the new budget impact test that NICE plans to introduce on 1 April 2017, (b) number of patients in England that will be delayed in accessing those treatments and (c) potential effect on the health outcomes of those patients delayed in accessing those treatments.

Nicola Blackwood: The proposed budget impact test is expected to apply to a minority of appraisals. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) estimates that around 80% of technologies appraised between June 2015 and June 2016 fell below the level of the proposed budget impact test. The National Health Service spent over £15 billion on medicines in 2015/16, a 20% increase since 2010/11, and the purpose of the budget impact test is to help to manage the introduction of high budget impact products into the NHS, and to ensure that their introduction does not distort the NHS’s ability to fund other priorities. NHS patients will continue to have a right in the NHS constitution to drugs and treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance.

Drugs: Licensing

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will provide a summary of the submissions made to NICE and NHS England consultation on changing arrangements for evaluating and funding drugs and other health technologies appraised through NICE's technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies programmes.

Nicola Blackwood: A summary of responses to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England consultation on proposed changes to the arrangements for evaluating and funding drugs and other health technologies assessed through NICE’s technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies programmes can be found in the NICE Board papers, located at:https://www.nice.org.uk/Media/Default/Get-involved/Meetings-In-Public/Public-board-meetings/agenda-and-papers-mar-17.pdf

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions officials of his Department have had with stakeholders in developing the new budget impact test that NICE plans to introduce on 1 April 2017.

Nicola Blackwood: Departmental officials have held a number of meetings with external stakeholders in which the budget impact test was discussed.

Familial Hypercholesterolaemia

Tom Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the potential (a) medium and (b) long-term cost savings to the NHS of the use of genetic cascade testing to identify and treat familial hypercholesterolaemia.

Nicola Blackwood: The current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance recommends genetic cascade testing for familial hypercholesterolaemia as highly cost effective. This guidance is currently under review, due to be issued in May 2017, and will take into account the latest changes to the costs of drugs and genetic tests in its revised economic modelling.

Department of Health: Internet

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the five most visited websites were by staff of his Department in the last year for which figures are available.

David Mowat: The Department's IT services are delivered via a shared ICT service that covers multiple health related arm's length bodies. There are over 12,000 users of this service and all internet traffic goes through the same route. Internet access for Departmental staff only is not actively reported on. Therefore details of the five most visited websites are not available.

Health: Children

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data his Department and its agencies collect on the effect of childhood health on later life chances.

Nicola Blackwood: Public Health England (PHE) track a number of indicators concerning health, wellbeing and behavioural and cognitive outcomes associated with life chances. This is via the Public Health Outcomes Framework and other profiles, in particular the child health profiles and the early years profiles. These indicators include background factors, such as children in low income families, risk factors, (for example low birthweight at term), and protective factors including breastfeeding initiation. PHE also collect data on early years outcomes via the Ages and Stages questionnaire as well as later childhood outcomes. There are also indicators on obesity, namely excess weight in four-five and 10-11 year olds. In terms of childhood health and life chances, obese children and adolescents are at an increased risk of developing various health problems (both physical and emotional /psychological), and are also more likely to become obese adults. In addition, the Department funds longitudinal studies such as the millennium cohort study to track children through childhood and is supporting the roll-out of Routine Enquiry into Adverse Childhood Experiences. This will encourage people to disclose childhood adversity, which can lead to them getting the help they need sooner.

NHS: Buildings

Mrs Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish Sir Robert Naylor's review of the NHS estate.

Mr Philip Dunne: Sir Robert Naylor’s report on the National Health Service estate will be published shortly.

Eating Disorders

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many finished admission episodes there were with a primary diagnosis of an eating disorder in each month in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17 for which figures are available.

Nicola Blackwood: The following table shows the number of finished admission episodes in hospital settings in England with a primary diagnosis eating disorder 2015-16. Finalised data for 2016-17 is not available at this time. Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sectorMonthFinished Admission EpisodesApril 2015260May 2015254June 2015278July 2015246August 2015209September 2015259October 2015258November 2015218December 2015239January 2016234February 2016215March 2016243Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS DigitalNote: These are diagnoses for hospital admissions only and there may be cases diagnosed in other care settings. These data should not be described as a count of people as the same person may have been admitted more than once in the same year.

School Milk

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the role of school and nursery milk in supporting the health of children in deprived communities.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the role of school and nursery milk in the Government's Childhood Obesity Plan.

Nicola Blackwood: Where the school food standards apply, milk must be available during school hours and offered free to disadvantaged pupils, and free milk is also available to infants if served as part of their lunch.As part of the Childhood Obesity Plan, the Government will publish and promote example menus for early year’s settings in England later this year. This will help settings to meet the latest Government dietary recommendations, including the consumption of milk and dairy products.

Mental Health Services

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the preparedness of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) for the potential changes in the level of demand for mental health provision as a result of changes made in Chapter 4 of Part 4 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017; and what estimate he has made of the resources available to CCGs for preparing for those changes.

Nicola Blackwood: The Policing and Crime Act 2017 will change aspects of the operation of police powers under sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983, primarily to reduce further the use of police custody for people detained under these powers, and to make it unlawful for people aged under 18 to be taken to police cells as a place of safety. This week I wrote, jointly with the Parliamentary under Secretary of State (Sarah Newton MP), to local Crisis Care Concordat Groups, Police and Crime Commissioners, and police Chief Constables to encourage them to work together to prepare at local level for the practical implications of these changes. A copy of the letter is attached. The use of police custody for these mental health detentions has already reduced by 80% since 2011-12, driven by local partnerships of health, police and local authorities under the mental health Crisis Care Concordat. The National Health Service is responding to the increased demand for mental health services, last year NHS Digital reported that “The instances where section 136 of the act was used to bring a person to hospital as a place of safety increased by 3,562 (18%) to 22,965, compared to the year before (19,403). This rise should be viewed in the context of a fall of 56%, from 3,996 to 1,764 over the same period, in the use of police cells as a place of safety”. The Government is allocating £15 million in funding across 40 Crisis Care Concordat partnerships to improve health based places of safety provision and ensure that people in mental health crisis are not detained in police stations. A further £15 million of funding has been announced to continue this work. Source:Inpatients formally detained in hospitals under the Mental Health Act 1983 and patients subject to Supervised Community Treatment: 2015/16, Annual figures. NHS Digital, 2016. http://www.content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB22571



PQ69287 attached letter
(PDF Document, 97.34 KB)

NHS: Standards

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the reasons are for the publication of the NHS Mandate 2017-18 being later than in previous years.

David Mowat: The Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2017-18 was published and laid before Parliament on 20 March 2017, ahead of coming into force on 1 April 2017. It sets out seven overarching objectives for NHS England and confirms its budget for the coming year, including a 1.4% real terms increase. At the Spring Budget 2017, the Government made additional social care funding available to support mandate commitments on investment in the transformation of out-of-hospital care. It was therefore necessary to wait until this process was completed before discussions on the mandate were concluded.

Cancer

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects Health Education England to publish a workforce strategy for cancer.

David Mowat: Health Education England, along with the other partners on the National Cancer Transformation Board, are continuing to develop their workforce plan, which will be published shortly.

Respiratory System: Diseases

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were admitted to hospital due to a respiratory condition in each age group in England in each year since 2010-11.

David Mowat: The admissions by age group are set out in the attached tables.



PQ69341 attached tables
(Word Document, 16.96 KB)

Respiratory System: Diseases

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were admitted to hospital due to a respiratory condition in each age group in Brighton in each year since 2010-11.

David Mowat: The admissions by age group are set out in the attached tables.



PQ69342 attached tables
(Word Document, 17.38 KB)

Respiratory System: Diseases

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were admitted to hospital due to a respiratory condition in each age group in (a) London, (b) Birmingham, (c) Leeds, (d) Nottingham and (e) Southampton in each year since 2010-11.

David Mowat: The information requested is attached.



PQ69343 attached document
(Excel SpreadSheet, 25.82 KB)

Respiratory System: Diseases

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were admitted to hospital due to a respiratory condition in each age group in London in each week of January 2017.

David Mowat: The admissions by age group are set out in the table below:  Weeks0-910-1920-2930-3940-4950-5960-6970-7980-8990+Unknown2 January 2017 - 8 January 2017607146202171194306398578646286209 January 2017 – 15 January 20175851782222001942763955475362182016 January 2017 – 22 January 20175931841981752162383234314021842223 January 2017 – 29 January 201758618619519818620328134830911411

Sepsis

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of treatment provisions for people diagnosed with sepsis.

Mr Philip Dunne: We have made significant progress since our focus on sepsis increased in January 2015.Public Health England led work on a public awareness campaign which was developed in collaboration with the UK Sepsis Trust and will help parents decide when to seek medical help. The campaign was launched in December 2016 and over a million leaflets and posters have already been distributed to general practitioner clinics, hospitals and other public places.In July 2016, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its comprehensive guideline ‘Sepsis: recognition, diagnosis and early management’ covering all populations. Building on this guideline, NICE is currently consulting on a Quality Standard to further improve the quality of care for people diagnosed with sepsis.Through the national Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) scheme, NHS England is providing a financial incentive for systematic screening for sepsis of appropriate patients and, where sepsis is identified, to provide timely and appropriate treatment and review. This has been in place since 2015. Data provided by NHS England show an increase in Emergency Department assessment for sepsis from 52% to 85% in the 18 months since the CQUIN started, timely treatment increased from 49% to 62% in the same period.Further work currently underway in NHS England include a Clinical Commissioning Group Improvement and Assessment Framework on highlighting the importance of sepsis education for health professionals. This is now in the final stages of approval, with implementation expected shortly. NHS England is also leading work on an update of its cross-system Sepsis Action Plan.

Endometriosis

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of treatment provisions for people diagnosed with endometriosis.

Nicola Blackwood: The Department has asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to develop a guideline on the diagnosis and management of endometriosis. This will include: symptoms and signs of endometriosis; and use of diagnostic tests including imaging, biomarkers and surgical diagnosis. The guideline is due to be published in September 2017. To support women with endometriosis, all obstetricians and gynaecologists have been trained in the diagnosis, investigation and management of the condition, which is specifically listed as topic in the core curriculum for obstetrics and gynaecology. The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology has published clinical guidelines on the management of women with endometriosis to assist clinicians. The guideline is available at:https://www.eshre.eu/Guidelines-and-Legal/Guidelines/Endometriosis-guideline.aspx NHS England has developed a service specification for severe endometriosis under the specialised commissioning area of complex gynaecology. The Department expects all units providing a service to women with severe endometriosis to provide care which meets the standards NHS England have set out.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that children and young people accessing specialist inpatient mental health services and the families of such children and young people receive clear guidance on their rights in respect of their care and treatment.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that children and young people accessing specialist inpatient mental health services have their voices heard and are involved in decisions about their treatment and care.

Nicola Blackwood: Shared Decision Making is a process in which patients can participate actively with their healthcare professional in making decisions about their health and care. This can only be realised by involving patients fully in their own care, with decisions made in partnership with clinicians, rather than by clinicians alone as set out in No decision about me without me (DH2012 link below) which outlined the principles of patients and service users, their carers and families more say. This includes areas such as mental health services, both inpatient and outpatient.https://consultations.dh.gov.uk/choice/choice-future-proposals/supporting_documents/Choice%20consultation%20%20No%20decison%20about%20me%20without%20me.pdf The Department strengthened the guiding principles of the Mental Health Act 1983: Code of Practice to make clear what rights and expectations patients, their families and carers have in relation to the Mental Health Act. The Act can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-mental-health-act-1983

Mental Health Services: Restraint Techniques

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to publish guidance on reducing the use of physical restraint of children and young people in mental health institutions.

Nicola Blackwood: We expect to publish guidance for public consultation shortly.

Heart Diseases: Children

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which hospital in the UK treats the largest number of primary referrals from tertiary centres for children with arrhythmic heart conditions; and if he will make a statement.

David Mowat: Information is not available in the format requested, as we are unable to identify in Hospital Episode Statistics primary referrals from tertiary centres.

Department of Health: Management Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2017 to Question 65687, how much of that procurement spending in each of those years related to the services of management consultants.

David Mowat: The Department’s procurement category spend relating to management consultants alone in each financial year 2010-11 to 2015-16 is reported as follows: Financial year£ million2010-11£9.72011-12£3.12012-13£5.42013-14£4.92014-15£4.82015-16£4.4 This table draws on data from the core Department receipted amounts against purchase orders, in line with Crown Commercial Service definitions. This is cash based spend that will differ from the reporting approach used for the Department’s annual accounts, which reflects accrued expenditure recorded in the general ledger of each body.

Mental Illness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people (a) under the age of 18 and (b) of all ages have been diagnosed with anxiety in each year since 2010.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people (a) under the age of 18 and (b) of all ages have been diagnosed with depression in each year since 2010.

Nicola Blackwood: This information is not collected in the format requested.

Leukaemia

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the NHS is taking to ensure that people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia whose disease relapses early have access to appropriate treatment options.

David Mowat: NHS England routinely commissions idelalisib for relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukaemia following its approval by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Ibrutinib is currently funded via the Cancer Drugs Fund and it will soon move into routine commissioning. Venetoclax, which is licensed for use after idelalisib, recently received a draft “not recommended” from NICE and remains unavailable to patients. The drug is currently being considered by NICE in keeping with the processes agreed for cancer drugs, more information is available at this link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ta10077

General Practitioners: Waiting Lists

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of people are waiting a week or more to see or speak to a GP; and what assessment he has made of the effects of access to GPs on attendances at accident and emergency departments.

David Mowat: According to the latest GP Patient Survey, published in July 2016, 19.3% of patients saw or spoke to a health professional a week or more after initially contacting their surgery for an appointment. However, of those who waited a week or more, 33.3% said they wanted an appointment a week or more later, and 28.6% said they didn’t have a specific day in mind. 0.7% of total survey respondents said that they went to accident and emergency last time they wanted to see or speak to a general practitioner (GP) or nurse at their GP surgery, because they were not able to get an appointment or were offered an inconvenient appointment.  The Government is committed to improving access to general practice, in part to reduce pressure on other parts of the National Health Service. By 2020, everyone will have access to routine evening and weekend appointments. We are, therefore, increasing investment in general practice by £2.4 billion by 2020/21 – this represents a 14% real terms increase. We are also committed to increasing the number of doctors working in general practice by 5,000 by 2020, in addition to providing another 5,000 extra other staff, for example mental health therapists and clinical pharmacists. Health Education England recruited the highest ever number of GP trainees in 2016.

Mental Health Services: Restraint Techniques

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on the care and treatment of people with learning disabilities and autism of the contents of the Channel 4 Dispatches programme, Under Lock and Key, broadcast on 1 March 2017; and what steps he is taking to investigate the use of restrictive practices such as restraint, seclusion and sedation on such people.

David Mowat: Under the Transforming Care programme, a clear programme of work is underway with national delivery partners to improve services for people with learning disabilities and/or autism, who display behaviour that challenges, including those with a mental health condition. ‘Positive and Proactive Care: reducing the need for restrictive interventions’, which was published by the Coalition Government in 2014 introduced a requirement that providers report on the use of restrictive interventions to service commissioners, who will monitor and act in the event on concerns being raised. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors and inspects against complaints in line with the guidance contained in ‘Positive and Proactive Care’. The CQC is developing a programme of work and consulting on revised key lines of enquiry for inspections to address variations in service quality, including use of restraint and seclusion. For NHS England-funded services, NHS England employs both CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and adult case managers who have the specific responsibility of monitoring the care and treatment of patients. This involves overseeing the whole treatment programme for individuals, including issues of restrictive practice.

Department of Health: Official Hospitality

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent on (a) hotels, (b) hospitality, (c) food and drink and (d) transport in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

David Mowat: Expenditure incurred by the core Department in the above areas is provided below for the last five financial years. This is taken from the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts for the years in question, and from underlying financial records. Year2011-12 £000s2012-13 £000s2013-14 £000s2014-15 £000s2015-16 £000sHotels1,5231,758412418360Hospitality7593611148Food and drink922953369318229Transport18664(1)2910  ‘Hotels’ has been interpreted as expenses incurred by Departmental staff on official business for staying in hotels in the United Kingdom and overseas. ‘Food and drink’ has been interpreted as subsistence expenses incurred by Departmental staff on official business and other catering costs. This excludes subsistence expenses for secondees and non-Departmental staff, as these figures cannot be separated from associated travel expenses. ‘Hospitality’ is as recorded under this heading in the Department’s accounting system, and relates to the cost of providing refreshments for meetings with external visitors. ‘Transport’ is as reported under this heading in the Annual Report and Accounts, and includes motor vehicle costs but excludes travel expenses. As a result of the reforms under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, a number of functions formerly carried out by the core Department were transferred to arm’s length bodies. This led to a reduction in staff numbers in the core Department from around 3,900 to 2,300, with a corresponding reduction in running costs reflected in the figures above.

Members: Correspondence

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to respond to the letter of 23 February 2017 from the hon. Member for Glasgow Central on the Feeding Products for Babies and Children (Advertising and Promotion) Bill.

Nicola Blackwood: I responded to the hon. Member’s letter on 23 March.

Chronic Illnesses: Employment

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress the Work and Health Unit has made in assessing the extent of possible barriers to employment for people with (a) myalgic encephalomyelitis and (b) other chronic fluctuating conditions.

Nicola Blackwood: The Government wants all disabled people and people with a long term health condition to have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that work brings, including people with myalgic encephalomyelitis and other chronic fluctuating conditions. That is why we published ‘Improving Lives the Work: Health and Disability Green Paper’ to set out the action we plan to take to achieve this and start a far-reaching, national debate on what more we can do to ensure everyone is supported to reach their full potential. We held a public consultation on the Green Paper between 31 October and 17 February 2017. We are now considering over 4,000 consultation responses and the next steps for reform. Government support to employers to help them recruit and retain disabled people and people with health conditions includes the Disability Confident campaign, the Access to Work scheme and the Fit for Work service. Following the Green Paper, we are now considering what more should be done.

Depressive Illnesses: Men

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate how many men were affected by postcoital dysphoria in each of the last three years.

Nicola Blackwood: Data on postcoital dysphoria is not collected centrally.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Local Enterprise Partnerships: Yorkshire and the Humber

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber received funding from local enterprise partnerships in each year since 2010-11; and how much funding did each of those receive.

Margot James: This information is not available at a national level. Through their management of local business growth capital programmes, Local Enterprise Partnerships and their accountable bodies are responsible for providing funding directly to business beneficiaries and for collecting relevant management information. I can confirm however that the Government has provided Regional Growth and Local Growth Funding to Local Enterprise Partnerships to run their business growth capital programmes as follows: - Regional Growth Funds (RGF) LEPRGF RoundTotal Contracted AmountHumber3£30mLeeds City Region3 and 4£25.7mSheffield City Region3 and 4£32mYork, North Yorkshire and East Riding (YNYER)4£4m In addition, £32m was provided to Lancaster University in RGF Round 4 to help boost economic growth in twenty large English cities (“Tier 2 Cities”), including in Yorkshire and the Humber, by supporting businesses to grow through better and more effective business growth services. Growth Deal LEPGrowth Deal Rounds (covering financial years 2015-2021)Total AmountHumber1 and 3£12mLeeds City Region1 to 3£57.35Sheffield City Region1 and 2£52mYNYER LEP is making up to £10.6m available to support businesses in its area through flexibilities over the management of its Growth Deal Programme. The Government has also provided the following Growing Places Funding to Local Enterprise Partnerships in Yorkshire and the Humber, which could be used to support business investment projects to unlock economic growth and create jobs: - Growing Places Fund LEPCapital Award Humber£8.098mLeeds City Region£33.481mSheffield City Region£17.167mYNYER£8.663m

Copyright: EU Law

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of proposed changes to EU copyright law on UK firms engaged in the digital economy.

Joseph Johnson: The Government has examined the Commission’s impact assessment and has carried out its own call for views in order to gather evidence from interested parties. The Government has also held a number of meetings with various sectors of industry, including roundtable meetings which I have hosted. The negotiations are still at an early stage and the Government is engaging with stakeholders to ensure that the copyright system works in the interests of UK creative and digital businesses.

Gas Fired Power Stations

Amanda Milling: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which gas-fired power stations have been built since 2010; and what the generation capacity was of each of those stations.

Jesse Norman: The generation capacity for each combined-cycle gas-fired power plant commissioned since 2010 can be found below.Plant nameCapacity (MW)Year of commissionGrain CHP13652010Langage CCGT9052010Severn Power CCGT8502010Staythorpe CCGT17922010Blackburn CCGT592011Pembroke CCGT22692012West Burton CCGT13322012Carrington CCGT8802016 Source: DUKES 5.10 Power Stations in the United Kingdom, May 2016 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes (Carrington, commissioned in autumn 2016, has also been added)

Copyright: EU Law

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what contribution he has made to EU negotiations to reform EU copyright law.

Joseph Johnson: The Government has been fully participating in the Digital Single Market negotiations, in good faith, and in the national interest, whilst taking into account the UK’s planned exit from the European Union.

Citizens Advice: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in the level of Government funding for the Citizens Advice Service in (a) Coventry and (b) the West Midlands in the last five years.

Margot James: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) provides an annual core grant to Citizen Advice (CitA), the umbrella body for the Citizen Advice Service in England and Wales to support the delivery of essential central services to the local Citizens Advice offices. BEIS does not hold information about local Citizens Advice Service funding. Central Government does not provide funding directly to local individual Citizens Advice offices, core funding for which is usually provided by the local authority in which they are located.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Management Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2017 to Question 65675, how much of that procurement spending, either by former constituent Departments or by his Department since its formation, in each of those years, related to the services of management consultants.

Margot James: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and its predecessors publish details of consultancy spend within their Annual Report and Accounts, (this included Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) spend attributed to higher and further education policy, apprenticeships and skills which have transferred to Department for Education and trade policy and export control, as well as the functions previously performed by UK Trade and Investment which have transferred to the new Department for International Trade): summary below:  Financial Year2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16 £'000£'000£'000£'000£'000£'000 Core DECC9,1636,6905,1626,3785,4854,311 Core BIS7,04111,6008,8004,3006,1004,100 Total16,20418,29013,96210,67811,5858,411   Sources:DECC Annual-reports-and-accountsBIS Annual-reports-and-accounts

Poverty

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to page 55 of the report UK Poverty Causes and Solutions, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing the recommendation in that report on the remit of regulations; and if he will make it his policy to implement that recommendation.

Margot James: The Government will shortly bring forward a Green Paper to examine markets that are not working efficiently or fairly for consumers.

Ministry of Defence

USA: Military Bases

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what dates any member of the Intelligence and Security Committee visited a US military base in the UK in each of the last three years.

Mike Penning: The Intelligence and Security Committee does not comment on the details of its work programme. Where appropriate, it publishes information on visits it has undertaken in its annual reports.

Syria: Islamic State

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Daesh militants were killed or wounded by British forces in Syria from 2 December 2015 to 2 December 2016 by (a) the date of each attack which killed or wounded a militant, (b) the number of militants killed or wounded in each attack, (c) whether they were wounded or killed, (d) the vicinity of the attack and (e) the type of weapon used.

Mike Penning: During the period in question it is assessed that there were a total of 12 enemy wounded in action and a total of 120 enemy killed in action as a result of UK air strikes. The UK cannot visit strike sites and conduct detailed investigations on the ground in Syria. Therefore the number of combatants killed and/or wounded is an estimated figure only.I will write to the hon. Member shortly with further details.

Military Bases: Security

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) unauthorised entries to military bases broken down by form of entry recorded, (b) thefts or losses of classified material, (c) successful cyber attacks on his Department's systems and (d) other security breaches took place in 2016; and what steps his Department took in response to each such breach.

Mark Lancaster: There were 73 physical incidents on Defence sites recorded in the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) central database for 2016 with an incident type of "physical access". The centrally held information is not recorded under sub-categories.There were 1,640 information assurance security incidents reported for thefts or losses of classified material in 2016. Lost/stolen ID cards account for 1,280 of this total. The remaining 360 incidents cover lost/stolen documents, user access devices, hard disk drives, laptops/tablets, phones, CDs and USB devices.I am withholding the information on successful cyber attacks as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.There were 2,923 security breaches reported in 2016.The MOD treats all breaches of security very seriously and requires all breaches to be reported regardless of whether there is firm evidence of breach or otherwise (for example if there is just an inability to account for a particular personal electronic device or an individual document for a period of time). All incidents are subjected to an initial security risk assessment, with further action taken on a proportionate basis.

Iraq: Military Intervention

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many airstrikes were launched over Iraq by British forces from 2 December 2015 to 2 December 2016 broken down by the type of munition fired.

Mike Penning: During the period in question I can confirm that British forces launched 696 airstrikes over Iraq. 1530 munitions were fired including: 948 Paveway IV, 97 Brimstone, 260 Hellfire, 33 GBU-12, 31 Enhanced Paveway II, three Enhanced Paveway III, eight Stormshadow and 150 27mm rounds.

Iraq: Islamic State

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Daesh militants have been killed or wounded by British forces in Iraq from 2 December 2015 to 2 December 2016 by (a) the date of each attack which killed or wounded a militant, (b) the number of militants killed or wounded in each attack, (c) whether they were wounded or killed, (d) the vicinity of the attack and (e) the type of weapon used.

Mike Penning: During the period in question it is assessed that there were a total of 111 enemy wounded in action and a total of 529 enemy killed in action as a result of UK air strikes. The UK cannot visit strike sites and conduct detailed investigations on the ground in Iraq. Therefore the number of combatants killed and/or wounded is an estimated figure only.I will write to the hon. Member shortly with further details.

Syria: Military Intervention

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many airstrikes were launched over Syria by British forces from 2 December 2015 to 2 December 2016.

Mike Penning: During the period in question I can confirm that British forces launched 73 airstrikes over Syria. 146 munitions were fired including: 88 Paveway IV, 26 Brimstone, 24 Hellfire, three Guided Bomb Units and five Enhanced Paveway II.

CSC

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with the management of CSC on its decision to reduce its UK workforce.

Mark Lancaster: The number of staff that Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) requires to deliver the outputs specified in the Agreement for the Provision of Personnel Administration, Pay and Pension Services is a matter for CSC. Senior officials within the Defence Business Services have received an assurance from CSC that the delivery of the contract will not be affected by any CSC staff changes.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many successful applications there have been for early access to the Armed Forces Pension due to injury as a result of exposure to CS spray in each year since 2010.

Mark Lancaster: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Training

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how CS spray is used in the training of armed forces personnel; and whether there have been any reports of injuries associated with the use of such spray in such training in each year since 2010.

Mike Penning: Ortho Chloro Bezylid Enemalonitrile (CS) is used by the Ministry of Defence in two forms:Pellet Irritant Smoke Respirator L1A1 (CS Pellets) which is a low concentration aerosolised particulate (similar to talcum powder drifting in the air). This is used within the confined environment of confirmation training facility as part of the testing process of the annual chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) revision requirement. If the CBRN drills are carried out correctly then exposure to the effects of CS is negligible. Royal Marine, Army and RAF recruits (not Royal Navy) are deliberately exposed to CS once in their career, to allow them to understand the effects of CS and gain confidence in the equipment that individuals may use when deployed.Canister Irritant Pressurised Hand Held L1A5 is a pressurised can containing a liquid CS suspension, known colloquially as CI. It is designed to be released in the vicinity of unprotected, trained troops who are in possession of the correct Personal Protective Equipment (respirator). The CS simulates exposure to a Chemical Warfare Agent, initiating the CBRN Immediate Action drills (donning of the respirator etc.). The CS canister must not be used in a confined area (buildings etc.) or within 1m of unprotected troops. The effects of CS can expect to be experienced by those downwind of the release point, with reducing acuteness, for a significant distance (potentially several hundred metres). CI is used as a useful training aid within a CBRN exercise for developing confidence when operating and conducting military tasks.I will write to the hon. Member with further details on her specific point on reports of injuries when the information has been collated.

Defence Business Services: Redundancy

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff working at Defence Business Services are facing redundancy as a result of the decision by CSC to reduce its UK workforce; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: 100 Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) staff working within Defence Business Services will be made redundant as a result of the decision by CSC to reduce its UK workforce.

Middle East: Military Intervention

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what non-combatant casualty cut off value has been set for UK airstrikes in (a) Iraq and (b) Syria.

Mike Penning: It is longstanding policy not to reveal details of UK Rules of Engagement as to do so would, or would be likely to prejudice the the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of time is to process an application for early access to the Armed Forces Pension prompted by ill health.

Mark Lancaster: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Disabled Facilities Grants

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, where there is no separate agreement between an upper tier authority and a lower tier authority to use part of any disabled facilities grant funding for social care capital projects, what proportion of disabled facilities grant funding paid to the upper tier authority should be passed from that authority to the lower tier authority.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government is committed to helping people with disabilities live safely and independently in their homes, and has invested over a billion pounds in the Disabled Facilities Grant since 2010.Local housing authorities, which in two-tier areas are the lower tier authorities, are under a statutory duty to provide adaptations to the homes of those people who qualify for a Disabled Facilities Grant. Government wants to ensure that lower tier authorities have the resources they need to meet this duty. Our expectation is that the Disabled Facilities Grant funding is passed in full to lower tier authorities, unless there is local agreement between the upper and lower tiers to contribute a portion of the funding to other social care capital projects. Funding allocations for local housing authorities are set out in the grant determination letter sent to both upper and lower tier authorities when the Disabled Facilities Grant money is paid each year.The Disabled Facilities Grant is part of the Better Care Fund, and the Better Care Fund Policy Framework for 2016 to 2017 makes this expectation clear: ‘As set out in Better Care Fund technical guidance, for 2016-17 authorities in two-tier areas will have to allocate Disabled Facilities Grant funding to their respective housing authorities from the pooled budget to enable them to continue to meet their statutory duty to provide adaptations to the homes of disabled people’.This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/better-care-fund-how-it-will-work-in-2016-to-2017

Local Government: Dorset

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding his Department has provided to local authorities in Dorset to enable them to prepare a local government reorganisation proposal.

Mr Marcus Jones: The department has provided no such funding.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Internet

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the five most visited websites were by staff of his Department in the last year for which figures are available.

David Mundell: Information on the five most visited websites by staff is not held.

Department for International Trade

Trade Promotion

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much the Government has spent on television advertisements urging businesses to export in the last 12 months; and what the business case was for that expenditure.

Greg Hands: Since April 2016, the Government has spent £1.97m on television advertising as part of the Exporting is GREAT campaign to inspire more businesses to take their next step towards exporting by visiting the website great.gov.uk.Television advertising gives us the ability to communicate with a large audience across the UK, generate awareness and encourage action. We target specific audiences and TV is a cost effective medium that compliments other communications activity across radio, print, online and email. This ensures our message reaches the intended audiences.

Women and Equalities

Government Equalities Office: Management Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2017 to Question 65686, how much of the spend for the Government Equalities Office in the financial year ending 2016 related to the services of management consultants.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government Equalities Office spent no money on management consultant’s services in 2015/16.

Equal Pay

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2017 to Question 68000, on equal pay, how her Department plans to identify employers who have not complied with the gender pay gap reporting requirement; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: Employers with over 250 employees have 12 months to publish the required information from the relevant commencement date: 31st March for the public sector and 6th April for the private, voluntary and charity sectors.The Government Equalities Office will proactively monitor the levels of compliance with the new regulations, and will continue to work closely with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to ensure that employers in scope fulfil their obligations to increase transparency around gender pay differences.

Department for Transport

Railways: North West

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on the delivery of rail electrification as part of the Northern Hub rail project.

Paul Maynard: Rail electrification is not being delivered as part of the Northern Hub rail project. However, Network Rail are delivering Northwest electrification in phases. Phase 1 (Manchester Airport connection to the West Coast Main Line) and Phase 2 (Liverpool to Manchester and Liverpool to Wigan) have already been delivered. Network Rail is on course to deliver the next phases of electrification in the Northwest in accordance with its Enhancement Delivery Plan, which is updated quarterly.

Railways: North West

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on the delivery of the Northern Hub rail project.

Paul Maynard: The Northern Hub Programme aims to improve connectivity, journey time and frequency by improving infrastructure coupled with the new franchise commitments in the North. The full complement of infrastructure will enable an uplift in service provision in phases through to December 2019. Network Rail has already delivered parts of the programme. And there is more to come as part of the £1bn plus investment to upgrade rail infrastructure in the North of England. In 2014, 15 minutes was knocked off the fastest journey time between Liverpool and Manchester when Huyton and Roby Phase One was delivered. Further track improvements will increase the speed of trains between key cities such as Manchester and Preston, Manchester and Bradford. Provision of additional platforms (some are already delivered) at Manchester Airport, Rochdale, Bolton and Stalybridge will eventually enable more frequent through trains at Manchester Victoria and more and longer services through to the airport once other elements of the programme are built. Network Rail is progressing the work to deliver the Ordsall Chord by December 2017. Phase Two of the Huyton-Roby track improvements will enable more frequent trains between Manchester and Liverpool, and this is planned for delivery at the end of this year. Liverpool Lime Street is also being remodelled to accommodate more and longer trains, and this work is being planned to deliver by December 2018. Parts of the Calder Valley capacity and journey time improvement have completed in the West, with further works ongoing in the East for December 2018.

Denton Station: Freight

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the volume of freight transport traffic at Denton Railway Station in each of the next five years.

Paul Maynard: The Department has not made a specific estimate for the volume of freight traffic at Denton Railway Station in each of the next five years. Rail freight in the UK is a private sector industry. The services which are provided by Freight Operating Companies are demand-driven, with the origin and destination of these services linked to the needs of their customers. Any future services would be subject to market demand and are not specified by Government.

Department for Transport: Secondment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2017 to Question 67745, on Department for Transport: Secondment, exactly how many staff have been seconded to his Department from Deloitte since July 2016; what positions those staff from Deloitte were seconded to; what the purpose of those secondments was; what the equivalent payscales were of the positions to which those staff were seconded; and how long each of those secondments lasted.

Mr John Hayes: There have been fewer than five members of staff seconded to the Department from Deloitte since July 2016. In line with Data Protection requirements the Department is unable to disclose further information.

Driving under Influence: Convictions

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has conducted an assessment of the (a) reasons for the change in the number of drink-driving convictions between 2004 and 2014 and (b) the implications of that change for the Government's policy on drink-driving.

Andrew Jones: We have made no assessment of changes in drink-driving convictions; however, drink drive casualties went down in the period 2004 to 2014 and drink drive fatalities are at their lowest ever level; the proportion of people who tested positively for alcohol following a reported road traffic accident has fallen from 4% in 2004 to 3% in 2014; and the overall proportion of drivers who tested positively on a roadside screening test fell from 18% in 2004 to 11% in 2014. We continue to promote our THINK! Campaign and we have no plans for lowering the drink drive limit.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the (a) negotiations on the Service Level Agreement and Funding Agreement and (b) mechanism for High Speed 2 and departmental funding for local authorities in Buckinghamshire will be completed.

Andrew Jones: Service Level Agreements are currently subject to ongoing negotiations with local authorities and it is HS2 Ltd’s intention to conclude these as soon as possible. HS2 Ltd aims to have all Service Level Agreements with local authorities signed by the end of 2017. This includes with the local authorities in Buckinghamshire. The mechanism for funding local authorities will be outlined in the individual Service Level Agreements and any Funding Agreements agreed to support these.

Manchester Piccadilly Station

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment on the construction of two new platforms at Manchester Piccadilly station.

Paul Maynard: Network Rail has applied for a Transport and Works Act Order for the Manchester Piccadilly and Oxford Road Capacity Enhancement scheme. A public inquiry was held in Autumn 2015 concerning the TWA Order application. The Department is currently considering the application.

Manchester Piccadilly Station

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of capacity at Manchester Piccadilly station for the period 2017-18.

Paul Maynard: The franchises have set out their plans to meet passenger needs in Manchester through the franchise period. The franchises have been contracted to improve the passenger circulation on platforms 13 and 14 during this time period complementing a renewal planned by Network Rail.

Department for Transport: Travel

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people working for (a) his Department and (b) HS2 Ltd have had their travel costs to and from their place of work paid for by his Department in the last two years; and from what locations each such payment of costs related to.

Andrew Jones: a) Under the Department’s Travel & Subsistence policy, employees may only be reimbursed for the additional cost of official travel. Official travel is classed as any travel you need to make away from your normal workplace. Home to normal workplace journeys are not official travel and these costs must not be claimed unless in exceptional circumstances. However, information on the numbers of staff who have received exceptional reimbursements and the locations of their travel is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.b) HS2 Ltd does not reimburse individuals for travel between home and permanent place of work (as per the HS2 Business Expenses Policy). This travel is treated as ordinary commute and not reimbursable. There are individually agreed exceptions such as: taxis home following late night working, where staff members are taken ill at work and have to go home, and other specific circumstances. These decisions are made by the local Head of Department and there is no single record detailing these exceptional circumstances.

Railways: East Midlands

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress is being made on awarding the East Midlands rail franchise.

Paul Maynard: On 1 March this year, the Department announced the three companies that are shortlisted to bid for the next east midlands franchise. A public consultation will be held in due course, followed by the publication of the invitation to tender and the stakeholder briefing document.

M3 and M4

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to build a new north-south transport corridor linking the M3 and the M4.

Andrew Jones: No decisions have been made on whether to build a new north-south transport corridor between the M3 and the M4. However, the Department is considering this proposal as part of its work to inform the next Road Investment Strategy.

Transport: North East Wales

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to invest in cross-border road and rail infrastructure between north-east Wales and north-west England.

Paul Maynard: We are already investing in major signalling renewals on the North Wales line; in the Halton Curve to improve rail connectivity between North Wales, West Cheshire and Liverpool City Region; and our National Productivity Investment Fund will support local authority investment on the A483 corridor between Chester and Wrexham. In developing our future investment priorities for both rail and road we will continue to consider the importance of cross border connectivity and integration.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Overseas Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that the Empowerment Fund is used to support countries at risk of Russian aggression.

Alok Sharma: The Empowerment Fund is currently under development. Details of the Fund will be announced to Parliament in due course.

Israel: Immigration

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Israeli Government on recent proposed changes to its immigration policy and procedures; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Our Deputy Ambassador to Tel Aviv met with Israel’s Europe Director on 13 March to discuss the new immigration law, and we continue to push for clarification from Israel on the impact on British nationals.The British Government is strongly opposed to the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Movement against Israel. But we believe the best way to combat this movement is through argument rather than legislation.

East Africa: Famine

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Somalia, (b) Kenya, (c) Ethiopia and (b) South Sudan on famine in that region.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: During his recent visit to the region My Rt Hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary (Mr Johnson), discussed the drought at his meetings with President Farmajo, Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Amina Mohamed, and Prime Minister Hailemariam and emphasised the UK's steadfast support for the international humanitarian effort. Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia are facing a severe drought, and parts of South Sudan are already in famine. On 22 and 23 March the Foreign Secretary chaired UN Security Council meetings during which President Farmajo called for greater support for Somalia, and the Council collectively expressed deep alarm at the famine and continued violence in South Sudan.

Occupied Territories: Human Rights

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of US withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council on human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK is a strong supporter of the Human Rights Council. We were proud to be re-elected as members last year. It is in all our interests to strengthen the rules-based international system. But the Council’s current approach of a hugely disproportionate focus on Israel does not support human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, nor further the goal of a two-state solution. US engagement in the Human Rights Council is a matter for the US Government and we would not issue a statement regarding it.

Kurds: Political Parties

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with Kurdish political parties in Syria and Turkey.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson), has not met with any of Syria's Kurdish political parties, though he and I have both met with leaders of the High Negotiations Committee and National Coalition of the Syrian Opposition, both of which include the Kurdish National Council as a constituent member.Officials in London and across our Syria Overseas Network meet regularly with representatives from the Kurdish National Council. UK officials have also met, less frequently, with representatives from the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).Through our Embassy in Turkey we also regularly engage with Kurdish political parties, including the Peoples' Democratic Party, the HDP (Halk Demokratik Partisi). It is important that we maintain a dialogue with all the main political parties.

Israel: Entry Clearances

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received on the recent law passed by the Knesset in Israel barring supporters of boycotts from entering Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territory; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: ​Our Deputy Ambassador to Tel Aviv met with the Israeli authorities on 13 March to discuss the new immigration law, and we continue to push for clarification from Israel on the impact on British nationals. We have updated our travel advice for Israel.The UK is strongly opposed to the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Movement against Israel. But we believe the best way to combat this movement is through argument rather than legislation.

Cameroon: Internet

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Government of Cameroon on the shutdown of the internet in English-speaking areas in the south of that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government via our High Commission in Yaoundé is closely following the situation in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon. We are engaged with the Government of Cameroon and will continue to raise the shutdown of the internet in certain areas which has been ongoing for several weeks, with them.

Bangladesh: Visits Abroad

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to visit Bangladesh.

Alok Sharma: I visited Bangladesh from 2 to 4 March this year. During my visit I met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister Abul Ali, and opposition leaders Begum Khaleda Zia and Raushan Ershad.The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson) hopes that the opportunity to travel to Bangladesh will arise in the future but he does not currently have any firm plans to visit.

Cameroon: Schools

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterpart in the Government of Cameroon on the closure of schools in the English-speaking areas in the south of that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government via our High Commission in Yaoundé is closely following the situation in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, following on from the demonstrations and strikes by lawyers and teachers, which began in November last year. We are engaged with the Government of Cameroon and will continue to raise the closure of schools with them. Our High Commissioner has spoken to President Biya urging him to find a resolution to these issues in order to return to normality as soon as possible.

Nuclear Disarmament

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on UK security policy of the Tbilisi Declaration adopted at the 25th annual session of the Organisation on Security and Cooperation in Europe in July 2016 to give support to the 2018 UN international conference on nuclear disarmament at the highest level.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Government firmly believes that the best way to achieve a world without nuclear weapons is through gradual multilateral disarmament negotiated using a step by step approach and within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. We will consider our approach to the 2018 international conference closer to the time.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Renewable Energy

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to encourage the development of decentralised renewable energies in developing countries.

James Wharton: The UK Government has stepped up its efforts to play a leading role in improving energy access in developing countries through decentralised renewable energy programmes to help meet the basic energy needs of some of the poorest people in the world.For example, our Results Based Financing programme is improving people’s access to modern energy in countries of Africa by speeding up and growing markets for businesses to deliver affordable energy to households.Through the UK Government’s International Climate Finance we have so far improved energy access for 6.6 million people in developing countries.

Developing Countries: Fuel Poverty

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will increase funding for the eradication of fuel poverty in developing countries.

James Wharton: The UK Government plays a leading role in improving energy access in developing countries through decentralised renewable energy programmes to help meet the basic energy needs of some of the poorest people in the world.For example, our Results Based Financing programme is improving people’s access to modern energy in countries of Africa by speeding up and growing markets for businesses to deliver affordable energy to households.Through the UK Government’s International Climate Finance we have so far improved energy access for 6.6 million people in developing countries.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2017 to Question 63106, in which countries her Department is strengthening nutrition outcomes of its water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.

James Wharton: The Department for International Development is supporting ten water, sanitation and hygiene projects that aim to improve nutrition outcomes for women, girls and children across 20 countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

Eastern Europe: Overseas Aid

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on increasing the level of UK aid to Eastern Europe; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues regarding the allocation of UK official development assistance (ODA) to ensure that it is used most effectively to tackle global challenges in our national interest, in line with the UK Aid Strategy.The main mechanism for providing UK bilateral ODA in Eastern Europe is the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF). This includes support to economic and political reform delivered to five countries – including Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine – through the Good Governance Fund (GGF).

Department for International Development: Management Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2017 to Question 65689, how much of that procurement spending in each of those years related to the services of management consultants.

Rory Stewart: The amount of spend through organisations that have a contract with DFID that relates to consultancy since 2010 is shown below: YearConsultancy Spend2010/11£1,400,0002011/12£700,0002012/13£251,3832013/14£198,3442014/15£101 3302015/16£52,120

Syria: Refugees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding her Department has provided to (a) Turkey, (b) Lebanon, (c) Jordan and (d) to assist with the effect of the refugee situation in Syria in those countries in each year since 2014-15.

Rory Stewart: Between April 2014 and December 2016 DFID spent over £596 million on projects in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. All of DFID’s bilateral funding to these countries is to assist with the effects of the refugee situation. A breakdown of this funding by country and financial year is provided below. Country2014/20152015/2016 2016/2017  (up to Dec 2016)Total spendTurkey£9.8m£7.8m£86.1m£103.7mLebanon£62m£95.9m£94.8m£252.8mJordan£50.7m£48.4m£140.9m£240mTotal£122.5m£152.1m£321.9m£596.5m

South Sudan: Work Permits

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the implications of the increase in the cost of work permits for foreign workers in South Sudan for the amount of aid delivered in that country.

James Wharton: The proposal by the Government of South Sudan to increase the cost of work permits is a further obstruction of the delivery of humanitarian aid by the government. If these fees are imposed it will have serious consequences for the agencies that are doing all they can to tackle the famine that has been declared. Together with our international partners we raised these issues with the South Sudanese First Vice President on 15 March, and made clear that the government of South Sudan has a responsibility to stop the suffering of its own people, and allow full humanitarian access across the country.

Department for Education

Department for Education: Extended Ministerial Offices

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many civil servants work in her Extended Ministerial Office; and what the total payroll cost is of that Office in the 2016-17 financial year.

Caroline Dinenage: A revised version of the Ministerial Code was published on 21 December 2016, which removed the provisions for setting up Extended Ministerial Offices (EMOs).In line with the changes we are disbanding the Secretary of State’s Extended Ministerial Office (EMO), which has until now comprised 6 civil servants, with a payroll cost for the 2016-17 financial year (excluding March 2017) of £458,113.94 (including National Insurance and pension contributions).

Students: Sexual Harassment

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of students who have reported incidents of sexual harassment or threat in each of the last five years.

Joseph Johnson: In September 2015, Universities UK was asked by Government to set up a sexual violence and harassment taskforce. The Taskforce reported its findings in October 2016 in the report ‘Changing the Culture’.The Taskforce’s report draws on the available data and evidence to make a series of recommendations on preventing and responding to sexual harassment. The Taskforce report establishes there is no single source of data on the levels of sexual harassment on University campuses. The Taskforce plans to establish more baseline evidence on this issue and report later this year.

Department for Education: Internet

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the five most visited websites were by staff of her Department in the last year for which figures are available.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department for Education has investigated all available data sources and can confirm that we do not hold this information in the format requested. Whilst we can provide information on websites from which the largest amount of data has been downloaded, our system is not able to collate the external websites which are ‘most visited’ by staff and therefore this information could only be obtained manually at disproportionate cost.

Teachers: Training

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the change was in the rate of acceptances onto teacher training courses in (a) Sheffield, (b) Yorkshire and (c) the UK from 2015-16 to 2016-17.

Nick Gibb: The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) administer applications to initial teacher training (ITT) and publish data about applications and acceptances. This can be found at: https://www.ucas.com/corporate/data-and-analysis/ucas-teacher-training-releases.The Department’s ITT Census provides the number of new entrants who started in postgraduate initial teacher training for academic years 2015/16 and 2016/17. Figures for all of the requested areas are contained in the table below: New entrants to postgraduate initial teacher trainingLocation of ITT provider2015/162016/17Percentage changeSheffield1,012988 - 2.4%Yorkshire2,7942,9405.2%England27,76127,053- 2.6%Source: ITT CensusFigures for 2016/17 are provisional and subject to changeFigures exclude forecasted traineesLocation of ITT provider does not necessarily reflect the location of the traineeIdentification of Sheffield ITT providers based on the registered postcode of the provider.

Apprentices: Taxation

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether hon. Members and members of the House of Lords are eligible to access funding from the apprenticeships levy.

Robert Halfon: Both levy and non-levy paying employers can access funding towards the cost of an apprentice’s training and assessment. Levy paying employers will have funds available to them through the apprenticeship service and receive a 10% Government top up every month. Non-levy paying employers will contribute 10% towards the cost of training with the Government paying 90%. As individual employers, Hon. Members and members of the House of Lords will be able to check their eligibility for funding the training of apprentices they hire. The Apprenticeship Funding Rules are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sfa-funding-rules-2016-to-2017

Agriculture: Apprentices

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has estimated the total funding to be provided by the Apprenticeships Levy to fund apprenticeship starts in the food, farming and agri-tech sectors; and if she will make a statement.

Robert Halfon: The Apprenticeship Levy comes into effect from April 2017; it will enable us to fund the step change needed to achieve 3 million quality apprenticeship starts in England by 2020.Both levy and non-levy paying employers can access funding to cover the cost of an apprentice’s training and assessment. Levy paying employers will have funds available to them through the apprenticeship service and receive a 10% Government top up every month. Non-levy paying employers will contribute 10% towards the cost of training with the Government paying 90%.The number of starts in sectors is dependent on employers recruiting apprentices that are appropriate for their business needs, and there are a number of factors which influence actual funding, such as the level of the start and the funding band, the price agreed between employer and provider and some additional payments for certain groups. Given the demand led nature of the policy, the Department has not therefore estimated the total apprenticeship funding that will be provided to fund starts in any particularly industry.The food, farming and agri-tech industry is developing new apprenticeship standards, which will better meet the needs of the industry and provide employers with the skills they need.

Basic Skills: Primary Education

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the Government's policy is on the Year 3 phonics check resit.

Nick Gibb: In 2016, 81% of pupils met the expected phonics standard in Year 1 (up from 58% in 2012) with 91% of pupils meeting the expected standard by the end of Year 2. The Government will not be introducing a Year 3 phonics check retake, although we carried out a small-scale pilot to explore the impact of a retake in Year 3.

Children: Day Care

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the 30 hours a week free childcare entitlement for working parents to student midwives and nurses who work in the public sector as part of their courses.

Caroline Dinenage: Eligibility for 30 hours for student midwives and nurses was carefully considered during the passage of the Childcare Act. As student nurses are treated as supernumerary, it follows that any time spent on placements will not count as paid work for the purposes of the extended entitlement. Student nurses will, however, be able to access a range of other support with their childcare costs including an additional payment of £1,000 each year for students with child dependents to reflect that students undertaking clinical placements may have higher childcare costs than the wider student population. More information on the range of support available can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plans-for-changing-healthcare-education-funding)Student parents who work in addition to their studies and meet the income requirements will be eligible for the additional hours. All student parents, (including student midwives and nurses) will also continue to benefit from the existing universal 15 hours of free early education for all three- and four-year-olds. They may also be entitled to 15 hours of free early education for two-year-old children.

Overseas Students

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the data on HE student enrolments by the HE provider published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency in March 2017, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on the UK economy of the change in the number of international students studying in the UK between 2010-11 and 2015-16.

Joseph Johnson: Information on enrolments and the finances of UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is collected and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). The data shows that from 2010-11 to 2015-16 the number of non-EU international students enrolled in UK HEIs increased by 4% (from 299,000 to 311,000). Over the same period, the total income from the tuition fees of non-EU domiciled students to UK HEIs increased from £2.9bn to £4.5bn in cash terms. This data does not include living expenses from international students, which are a source of additional value to the UK economy.

Apprentices

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of apprenticeship starts to be offered by businesses in each region and constituent part of the UK in 2017-18.

Robert Halfon: We are committed to reaching 3 million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020 and will ensure they deliver the skills employers and the economy need for growth.Future availability of apprenticeships is dependent on employers recruiting apprentices and offering opportunities. No estimate has been made on the proportion of apprenticeship starts offered by businesses in each region and constituent part of the UK in 2017-18. We want to encourage more employers to offer apprenticeships and our reforms give employers the opportunity to do so - employers are designing new apprenticeships that meet their business and skills needs. We are putting control of the funding for apprenticeships firmly in the hands of employers, so they can invest in quality training. Publication of the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers on 14 March 2017 means that employers have a real choice in the training they select, so that they get the skills they need to grow their business. The Apprenticeships Levy comes into effect from April 2017, as part of a wider suite of reforms to improve the quality and sustainability of the apprenticeship system.

Further Education: Expenditure

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2017 to Question 68199, on further education: expenditure, what proportion of that total expenditure was spent by the (a) Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and (b) her Department in the 2015-16 financial year.

Robert Halfon: In 2015-16 financial year, the spend for post-16 education and skills was: £5,918 million for 16 to 19 year olds in colleges, school sixth forms, and commercial and charitable providers funded by the Department for Education (DfE);£730 million for 16 to 18 Apprenticeships funded by DfE;£2,409 million for Further Education for those aged 19 and above (including adult apprenticeships) funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). These figures show funding for participation only and exclude financial support. Out of a total spend of £9,057million, 73% was spent by DfE and 27% by BIS. As the 19+ Further Education and Apprenticeships funding within BIS went through a machinery of government transfer to DfE at the Supplementary Estimate 2016-17, from a government budgeting/accounting perspective this spend will in future show as having all been spent by DfE.

Pre-school Education: Closures

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to protect maintained nursery schools from closure.

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure adequate funding for maintained nursery schools; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: There is a presumption against the closure of maintained nursery schools. Before a nursery school may close the local authority must set out in a statement their assessment of the quality and quantity of the alternative provision; proposed arrangements to ensure that the expertise and specialism provided by the maintained nursery school continues to be available; and the accessibility and convenience of replacement provision for local parents. We are also providing local authorities with supplementary funding of £55 million per year to enable them to maintain existing levels of nursery school funding at least to the end of this Parliament. We are currently carrying out a data assurance exercise to ensure local authorities receive the correct amount of supplementary funding.

Pupils: Scotland

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils from England attend schools in Scotland; and what the cost levied by the Scottish Government for that attendance is.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not hold information on pupils attending school in Scotland.

Department for Education: Management Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2017 to Question 65682, how much of that procurement spending in each of those years related to the services of management consultants.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department’s annual procurement expenditure includes the following costs for the services of management consultants:Financial yearSpend on management consultancy £0002009-1020,6952010-112,6942011-127552012-133162013-145512014-155342015-16407   The sources of the data are the Department’s audited annual accounts covering the core Department and its executive agencies at that time. The table includes the full cost of the consultants such as their fees, travel, and accommodation expenses. The expenditure relates to consultants who are engaged to provide advice to the Department. It does not include the costs of experts engaged to implement the change or a new programme.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Tickets: Touting

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to make it an offence to sell or attempt to sell a ticket for more than its original cost price.

Matt Hancock: The Government has a continuing interest in the area of secondary ticketing, and recognises the process of distributing and buying tickets can often be a cause for public frustration and concern. An independent review of consumer protection measures was commissioned by the Government in 2015, undertaken by Professor Waterson, which was published in May 2016. The Government published its response to the review on 13th March 2017, which welcomed the Review and accepted all nine recommendations contained in the review in full. Professor Waterson specifically considered the issue of a cap on ticket resale prices, and we agree with his conclusion that it should not be taken forward as it would raise a number of practical considerations and be of limited effect, as it would be extremely difficult to enforce.As part of our response, and in response to a series of roundtable discussions with industry and law enforcement agencies, we have tabled an amendment to the Digital Economy Bill which will give us the power to create a specific offence of using a ticketing bot to purchase more tickets than the maximum permitted, to put beyond doubt the illegality of this practice. Those found guilty of this offence will face an unlimited fine in England and Wales.

Local Broadcasting: Radio

Amanda Milling: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many community radio licences for FM broadcast have been granted by Ofcom in each year since 2010.

Matt Hancock: Ofcom have issued 123 licences since 2010, bringing the total number of stations broadcasting around the UK since 2004 to 245, with a further 31 preparing to start. For a breakdown of licences issued since 2010 see as follows: Licences Awarded2010132011720122420131720142320151620162220171Total123

Electronic Commerce: VAT

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect on UK firms engaged in the digital economy of the UK being outwith an EU-wide VAT regime for that economy.

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect on UK firms engaged in the digital economy of proposed changes to the VAT regime for the EU Digital Single Market.

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect on UK firms engaged in the digital economy of the UK leaving the European Single Market.

Matt Hancock: The Government is focused on securing the best deal for Britain. As we set out in the UK Digital Strategy, we continue to engage with businesses and key stakeholders to support the UK's digital economy. We will listen to their concerns, aim to limit uncertainty in the transition and ensure our new relationship with the EU works for business and consumers.

Telecommunications: EU Law

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what contribution she has made to EU negotiations to reform the EU Electronic Communications Framework.

Matt Hancock: We continue to make a proactive contribution in EU negotiations on ongoing files, including on the European Electronic Communications Code. For example, I attended the EU Telecommunications Council on 1st & 2nd December 2016 where I discussed new Code and BEREC proposals with Commission officials, MEPs and many of my European counterparts.

Ofcom: Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans for Ofcom to continue to participate in the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications after the UK has left the EU.

Matt Hancock: The UK's negotiations for exiting the EU are complex and the Government is focused on securing the right deal for Britain. Together with the Department for Exiting the European Union, we are analysing all the impacts of leaving the EU, including future involvement in European organisations.

Digital Technology: Training

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2017 to Question 66826, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people without core digital skills who will be trained through the additional programme with the Good Things Foundation.

Matt Hancock: The Future Digital Inclusion programme run on behalf of Government by the Good Things Foundation has, as of February 2017, trained 699,000 adults since October 2014 in basic digital skills. We expect a further 207,000 people to be trained over the course of the next financial year.

Databases

Amanda Milling: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the data centre capacity is in the UK.

Matt Hancock: Figures from techUK and the UK Council of Data Centre Operators estimate that there are around 500 data centres in the UK[1]. Capacity for these data centres can be measured by ‘power provisioning’, which is the maximum amount of power that the data centre operator has contracted from the supplier and is therefore able to draw upon. This power is contracted based on the maximum amount that the data centre site could need when it is fully occupied and working at full capacity, with provision built in for a small margin of additional power. Power provision is instantaneous and it is estimated that the combined UK data centre estate is able to draw upon between 1,500 and 1,700 MW (Most Power Consumed) at any given time, based on analysis provided to the Department for Culture Media & Sport by techUK.

Databases

Amanda Milling: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Government has to support the increase of data centre capacity in the UK.

Matt Hancock: The UK’s data centre industry is a highly successful sector that will play an important role in our ambition to grow the digital sector’s contribution to the UK economy to £200 billion by 2025. In 2016 we appointed the UK’s first National Technology Advisor to work with the Digital Economy Unit, part of the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, to strengthen links with technology sector, including the data centre industry. This role includes working with companies such as IBM to make the UK their expansion country of choice. In November 2016, IBM announced that it will be opening four new cloud data centres in the UK. The government is also working with data centre operators to ensure a secure future energy supply, which will support the continued growth of the UK data centre industry.

Data Protection

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the UK's data retention regime on securing a data adequacy agreement with the EU after the UK has left the EU.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the implications of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 for the UK securing a data adequacy agreement with the EU.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the UK can apply for an adequacy decision while still being formally a member of the EU.

Matt Hancock: The General Data Protection Regulation will apply to EU member states from 25 May 2018. We expect still to be in the EU at that point, and so the General Data Protection Regulation will apply in the UK from then. As part of plans for the UK’s exit from the EU, the Government will be seeking to ensure that data flows between the UK and the EU are uninterrupted, and will be considering all the available options during exit negotiations that will provide legal certainty for businesses and citizens alike.

Charities: Fund Raising

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the progress of the Fundraising Regulator in improving standards in charity fundraising.

Mr Rob Wilson: Since its launch in July 2016, the Fundraising Regulator has taken ownership of the Code of Fundraising Practice and is consulting on strengthening it. The regulator is handling public complaints about poor fundraising practices. Proposals for the Fundraising Preference Service, to help people opt out of receiving charity fundraising communications, have been developed and the new service is due to start in summer 2017.Most large fundraising charities have already shown their commitment to best practice by supporting the Fundraising Regulator and paying its levy. The Government has reserve powers to intervene if the level of support for the Fundraising Regulator from the charity sector is insufficient.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2017 to Question 67934, whether her Department holds information on the minimum level of funding that will be provided to the agricultural sector in 2019-20 in maintained Pillar 1 funding; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Government has guaranteed that the agricultural sector will receive the same level of funding that it would have received under Pillar 1 of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) until the end of the Multi-Annual Financial Framework in 2020. The annual value of the Pillar 1 budget fluctuates with currency movements but the UK budgetary ceiling for 2019/2020 will be approximately €3.2billion. The scheme regulations do not set a minimum level of spend.

Dogs: Sales

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure better protection of third party sales of puppies; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Following a consultation last year, Defra published a Next Steps document in February 2017 which set out proposals to improve local authority animal licencing schemes, including on pet sales, to enhance animal welfare. We propose to make it an offence to sell puppies and kittens aged younger than eight weeks.We will also require all licensed pet shops and all other pet vendors to comply with statutory welfare conditions which raise animal welfare standards.

Power Stations: Standards

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the revised Large Combustion Plant Best Available Technique Reference Document standards are reflected in the Government's air quality plans.

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to adopt the revised large combustion plant best available technique reference document at the next Industrial Emissions Directive Committee meeting in April 2017.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is firmly committed to improving the UK's air quality and cutting harmful emissions. This is one of the reasons why the UK has signed up to the National Emissions Ceiling Directive, which sets tougher legally binding ceilings for emissions of five major pollutants in 2020 and 2030. The Government is considering how all sectors of the UK economy, including industry, can contribute to these ambitious targets.  The UK remains a member of the EU until we leave, with full rights and obligations of membership. The Government is therefore participating as usual in the ongoing review process for the Large Combustion Plant Best Available Technique Reference Document (LCP BREF) to ensure that the standards placed on industry deliver benefits to human health and the environment balanced against the costs of implementation. Defra officials are currently examining the proposed LCP BREF ahead of the vote next month.  As the Prime Minister announced last year, our plans for the Great Repeal Bill will convert current EU law into domestic British law. Our intention is to ensure a smooth and orderly transition via the Great Repeal Bill and to provide as much certainty as possible by maintaining the existing laws. We will be providing further information on the Great Repeal Bill in due course.  The draft UK Air Quality Plan for tackling nitrogen dioxide will be published by 24 April.

Dogs: Animal Welfare

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of regulating the use of static pulse, sonic and spray collars on dogs.

George Eustice: An amended statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs will be placed before Parliament later this year. We propose to include in it a specific reference to the circumstances under which electronic training aids and similar devices for dogs can be used.

Members: Correspondence

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to respond to the letter of 23 February 2017 from the hon. Member for Glasgow Central on the Feeding Products for Babies and Children (Advertising and Promotion) Bill.

George Eustice: A reply was sent on 1 March via e-mail to the Parliamentary Office of the hon. Member for Glasgow Central. Unfortunately, due to a mistype in the address, the reply may not have been received. It has now been resent correctly addressed.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Official Hospitality

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on (a) hotels, (b) hospitality, (c) food and drink and (d) transport in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

George Eustice: All expenditure within Core Defra relating to hospitality, food and drink is categorised within the Department’s finance system under the single heading ‘Catering and Hospitality’. Therefore, identifying the separate amounts could only be achieved at disproportionate cost. For this reason, the table below sets out the information requested but incorporates combined figures for b) hospitality and c) food and drink. £0002011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16Hotels701643836820630Hospitality, food and drink279210583521332Transport2,3972,2943,1542,8342,643

Rights of Way

James Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on proposed changes in the guidance on public rights of way; and from when the revised version of that guidance will be effective.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I am not in a position to update the Honourable Member on timings.

Seas and Oceans: Conferences

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials she plans will represent the UK at the UN Ocean conference on 5 to 9 June 2017.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: No decisions have yet been taken on who will represent the UK at the High-Level UN Conference to support implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many officials of the three devolved administrations he plans to include in his team to conduct negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

Mr David Jones: We have made no decisions yet about the format of the direct negotiations with the European Union. It will be for the Prime Minister to ensure we negotiate the best possible future for the United Kingdom, representing the interests of all of its constituent parts. The Department for Exiting the European Union is committed to the creation of a diverse and inclusive working environment.

Overseas Aid: Eastern Europe

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for International Development on increasing the level of UK aid to Eastern Europe.

Mr Robin Walker: Details of Ministerial Meetings will be published in the Department's Quarterly Transparency Returns, which will be made publicly available on GOV.UK.

Brexit

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what correspondence he has had with leaders of Core Cities on the negotiations for the UK to leave the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The Government has been clear that we will not provide a running commentary on negotiations and the department has no plans to change policy regarding publication of correspondence. DExEU is regularly engaging with leaders of local government and cities.

Glass: Manufacturing Industries

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions his Department has had with representatives from the glass industry on the implications of the UK leaving the EU; and what plans he has to prioritise that industry in his negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

Mr David Jones: Ministers and officials across Government are engaging UK and EU business from every sector of the economy - this is a central element of our plan to get the right deal for Britain. We are listening and talking to a broad range of organisations, companies and institutions.Details of Ministerial meetings will be published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Returns, which will be made publicly available on GOV.UK.

Brexit

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to his oral contribution of 2 February 2017, Official Report, column 1218, if he will list those 58 economic sectors.

Mr David Jones: The Department for Exiting the European Union, working with officials across Government, continues to undertake a wide range of data analysis covering the entirety of the UK economy. We are looking at over 50 sectors as well as cross-cutting regulatory issues. This will inform the UK's position for the upcoming negotiations with our EU partners. The Government's plan for leaving the EU has been discussed at length, and Parliament will have a say on the final deal we achieve with the European Union by putting that deal to a vote in both Houses before it comes into force. But as Parliament has also agreed, we will not publish anything that would undermine our ability to negotiate the best deal for Britain.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Secondment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2017 to Question 67738, on Department for Exiting the European Union: secondment, how many secondees to his Department were from (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Accenture, (d) McKinsey & Co, (f) Ernst and Young and (g) Bain & Company.

Mr Robin Walker: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 22 March 2017 to the Question 67738. The Department is recruiting the brightest and the best from across the civil service, the wider public sector and the private sector. We will not be providing a running commentary as recruitment is ongoing and numbers are regularly changing.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Internet

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the five most visited websites were by staff of his Department in the last year for which figures are available.

Guto Bebb: The Wales Office does not hold this information. The Department uses the Ministry of Justice IT systems.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make it Government policy to create a criminal offence for assaulting prison officers on a par with the offence of assaulting a police officer.

Dr Phillip Lee: Assaults on prison staff are completely unacceptable, and are already criminalised. An assault on any victim serving the public is also treated more seriously by the courts.The offence of assault on a police constable in the execution of his duty (s. 89 of the Police Act 1996) already extends to assaults on public sector prison officers in the course of their duties.We are committed to improving safety and decreasing violence across the prison estate. We do not underestimate the challenges faced by everyone working in prisons and will continue to support our staff to help them maintain safe and secure prisons.We are currently taking action which includes tackling the use of drugs, mobile phones and drones, while strengthening the frontline by recruiting an additional 2,500 staff. We are also providing over 3,400 body-worn cameras across the estate, alongside training to improve staff interactions with prisoners.

Members: Correspondence

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Probation plans to reply to the letter to him dated 15 March 2017 from the right hon. Member for Camberwell and Peckham, on the former Governor of HM Prison Chelmsford, Helen Carter.

Dr Phillip Lee: A reply to the letter from the right hon. Member from Camberwell and Peckham dated 15 March 2017 was sent on 30 March 2017.

Cardiff Prison

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on the future operations of HM Prison Cardiff of the development of a new prison in Port Talbot.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on the future operations of HM Prison Swansea of the development of a new prison in Port Talbot.

Dr Phillip Lee: We are investing £1.3bn to build up to 10,000 new prison places which will replace places in ageing and ineffective prisons, providing buildings fit for today’s demands and able to support effective rehabilitation.On 22 March we announced plans to build four new prisons in Yorkshire, Wigan, South Wales and Rochester. No decisions have been made about HMPYOI Cardiff and Swansea.

Knives: Sentencing

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Sentencing Council for England and Wales plans to publish its revised guidelines on sentencing for knife possession as a result of its consultation of 6 October 2016; and if she will make a statement.

Dr Phillip Lee: Sentencing Guidelines are produced by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales.A timetable for the Council’s upcoming work, including publication of definitive guidelines following consultation, can be found in an update to its Business Plan which is available on its website: www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk.

Cabinet Office

Viscount Rothermere

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister's predecessor met Lord Rothermere in February or March 2016.

Ben Gummer: Holding answer received on 08 February 2017



I understand David Cameron met Lord Rothermere socially on the evening of 11 February. The records on Gov.uk now reflect this.

Knives: Crime

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of assaults carried out by people using knives in each of the last five years.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



Letter from UKSA
(PDF Document, 138.05 KB)

Prime Minister: Management Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2017 to Question 65693, how much of the spend on the purchase of professional services and consultancy services in each of those years related to the services of management consultants.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested is not held centrally and therefore is only available at disproportionate cost.

Government Departments: Recruitment

Andrew Selous: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, by when he plans fully to implement the Ban the Box initiative across Government.

Chris Skidmore: The government is committed to improving diversity of opportunity and creating an inclusive working environment that attracts the best talent and makes the most of the potential skills and productivity of ex-offenders. All departments operate in line with the principles of the ‘Ban the Box’ campaign. This initiative has been implemented by all the central Civil Service departments and we expect all Civil Service organisations across the Civil Service to comply with this policy.